


Acceptable Craziness

by reprimanded_by_evil



Series: Acceptable Craziness & Friends [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Allison turns evil, Fluff and Angst, Hargreeves meets an end, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus and Five are in love, M/M, No Underage between an adult and teen/child, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Only teen/child and teen/child, Slow Burn, but they are safe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-11-12 00:54:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18000722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reprimanded_by_evil/pseuds/reprimanded_by_evil
Summary: Five only ever wanted to get home to Klaus.  His whole world was turned upside down when he realized that there was no way that he could get home. He had promised that he would never abandon him. Never leave Klaus at the mercy of the darkness that plagued his mind.





	1. Daddy dearest

**Author's Note:**

> HEYYYYYY
> 
> So I was tired of there being NO fics in this fandom for this ship. These guys are so deserving, and really just need a hug. If any of you have read my other fic in this fandom, this is the big fic I mentioned. This is definitely going to be a multi chapter fic, and I am only going to gloss over events that took place onscreen. This will span to the end of s1, and past that as I want to see it happen. There will undoubtedly be companion fics that aren't necessary to read to understand this one, but they are still nice. Enjoy!

Five only ever wanted to get home to Klaus. His whole world was turned upside down when he realized that there was no way that he could get home. He had promised that he would never abandon him. Never leave Klaus at the mercy of the darkness that plagued his mind.

Klaus.

Klaus.

Klaus is always correlated with clouds. Five knows that every time he sees a cloud, even in the post apocalyptic hell hole that he got trapped in, he always thought of Klaus.  
The most beautiful thing in the world.

Klaus.

It broke Five’s heart to see Klaus as he’d become. He had to pretend not to remember.

********flashback*********

Darkness curled like warm shadows around him and his heart. He had nightmares, his Klaus. About abandonment, about the dead that plague him, about Father. The mausoleum. All the scarring things thrust upon him undeservingly.

“Hey.” Klaus’ voice was quiet, almost as if it were a shallow, fragile thing, set to break if pressed.

“Hmm?” Five hums.

“Pick…. Pick a name. I refuse to call you Five forever.” Klaus’ voice came out stronger this time, but broke at the end. “P-Please?” Five appreciated when Klaus felt confident around him.  
Especially when he feels good enough to take charge and demand what he wants.  
“Okay. I don’t know what I would call myself though. I live and breathe the number Dad gave me.” Five said honestly. Even in his memory, he’d never been this easily vulnerable with Delores, or anyone else either. It terrified him, but still gave him the thrill that was always present when Klaus was around. 

(End flashback)

He'd left before he or Klaus could pick a name. Upon his return, Five felt like crying at what Klaus had done to himself. He'd always had impulse control issues, but this was much worse than that. This was a conscious effort on his part to destroy himself. Five could understand, objectively, why he'd want to do that, given his power, but it didnt hurt any less. And Klaus seemed to be trying to forget everything.

Five had gone to Klaus to be his 'father' because he wanted to spend as much time with him as he could, but Klaus was unwilling unless he got something out of it.

"Come on, Luther and Diego would ask too many questions, and I'm not asking Allison because she's famous and apparently everyone knows she only has a daughter." Five said, because he refused to label this as begging.

"Hmm, maybe. But what do I get out of it?" The question wouldn't seem that far off for a junkie, but Five knew, the look of knowing in Klaus' eyes screaming a hidden intelligence and clarity beyond the capacity he shows the world. Five knew what the message underlining those words, and it was cruel. They weren't the same as they used to be, Klaus didn't love him the same anymore. And that broke Five to pieces. Klaus was his reason for survival, the only reason he wanted to come back in the first place. And now that was gone. Five steeled himself.

"I-I'll pay you... uh yeah, I'll pay you." Five stuttered, still recovering. Klaus narrowed his eye. He'd always had a good ear for weakness, and bullshit.

"How much?" He crossed his long arms over a narrow chest.

"Twenty? Please Klaus!" Five offered. He saw as Klaus softened some.

At this, Klaus turned at began speaking in a low voice, as if conversing with someone else. Five caught bits of it, but none of it made sense.

"Fine, Ben agrees that this is reasonable. But I'm not gonna be a conventional father." He uncrossed his arms, offering a hand to Five, as well as a small smile.

"Of course not, I wouldn't expect that. You? Normal? I doubt it well ever happen. Normalcy is overrated." Five's voice betrayed none of his cautiousness, but he suspected that Klaus knew when he caught Five sneaking a subdued glance. Five didn't know how well the banter would sit at this moment.

Five had always been confident, and oftentimes arrogant in his intellect and body, but now he didn't know how he would be received by the most important person in his entire universe.

The meeting with the doctor went about as Five had expected it to, and he admired the ease at which Klaus manipulated the doc to give them what they wanted. In his humble opinion, the best part of the whole thing was on the drive back, when Klaus pet his hair the way he used to before Five got stuck in the apocalypse. It felt good, but Klaus had stopped when Five almost fell asleep behind the wheel. Five had felt as though he was walking on air for the rest of the day.

They got back to the house and both went into Five's room, where he'd set up all his equations and work. Klaus bounced on the bed and looked over the equations, while Five looked at Klaus. Have was just like Five remembered, but more scarred. He was still slender, pale and beautiful. His soft black hair spiked manically to match its owner.

"You're math is wrong. There are a lot of errors that you might want to fix." Klaus' words snapped Five out of his reverie.

"What? No it isn't, it can't be!" Five launched himself in Klaus' general direction, and ended up landing half on top of the other. Klaus just took it in stride, wrapping a long arm around Five's chest, his other hand coming up to pet his hair again.

"It is, I'll tell you." Klaus explained everything that was wrong with Five's math, but the younger only listened for about three minutes until his mind went a little blank and his entire focus landed on Klaus hand in his hair, soothing and lulling him into a daze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, constructive criticism is appreciated, hate is not. An announcement, if anyone had any ideas for stories within this ship that they would like to see, please leave that bad boy in the comments and I'll try to get it done. I will dedicate the fic to the commentor. I really just want to tell everyone that I will upload this, and add chapters at my muse's discretion. If that monster blanks, no fic, but I will add as much as I can. This is set to be humungous, so I wish me luck, lol.


	2. Til the next beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus could hardly breathe. When Diego and Allison brought Five in, Klaus thought he'd just gotten hammered again, like the library thing he made Klaus swear never to speak of. Five had been shot, by the Commission.
> 
> Anger coursed through Klaus' body and mind, flooding his vision with crimson rage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAAAAY ANOTHER CHAPTER!!!
> 
> So! I have planned it out a bit more, and realized that I accidentally (jackass muse) made Allison turn evil and definitely went off course. If you're a fan of Allison, you probably don't want to read this, because she get bad, and villainous..
> 
> Also! Everyone, including Grace, gets tattooed. (Later) Especially Five. Lots of tats on him, because I just love the idea of Aiden Gallagher covered in tattoos. If you guys know any artists (hobby or otherwise) that could draw up that beautiful creation for me, that would be lovely.

Klaus flopped down on the couch in the library, crashing from the adrenaline after Ben announced that Luther was safely upstairs with the girl from the club. Not even five minutes later, he heard the front door slam shut, and Allison's panicked voice carrying through the house. Sighing, Klaus got up, and retrieved the med kit they kept under the false bottom on the coffee table.

Just as he got everything taken out and prepared for use, Diego rushed in, immediately moving toward the table, and carefully placing Five down. Panic flooded Klaus' mostly absent mind at the sight, bringing his full attention to the scene before him.

"What the fuck happened to him?" Klaus sounded vaguely distant, as his mind reeled. Diego waved absently, and took off toward the foyer, leaving a flustered and sputtering Allison in his wake.

"Apparently Five was shot at the Commission before he even got back here, and he finally passed out." She spoke so bluntly, focused on her bleeding brother. Klaus could hardly breathe. When Diego and Allison brought Five in, Klaus thought he'd just gotten hammered again, like the library thing he made Klaus swear never to speak of. Five had been shot, by the Commission.

Anger coursed through Klaus' body and mind, flooding his vision with crimson rage. The Commission couldn't just leave it at fucking up the world and trying to completely destroy it, no, they had to try and kill the only person who really gave a damn about trying to stop it. Except for Luther, but at the moment, even that is debatable.

Allison turned around, eyeing him curiously, even as her hands kept working.

"You okay there, Klaus?" She asked. At her brother's confused expression, she smiled in thin amusement. "You were talking out loud there, buddy." She finally turned back to Five's unconscious form lying on the table.

"You mind giving me a hand here?" She held out a pristine roll of white gauze, and a pair of powdery blue gloves. Klaus took them, and slipped on the gloves, immediately beginning to clean some of the blood from around the wound with a sterile wipe from the kit. Allison prepared the saline wash, and at Klaus' nod, poured it over the wound. At this, Five lurched up, gasping at the pain.

After wrestling a noncompliant Five back down, and finishing cleaning and wrapping his wound, Klaus stood, and partially lifted Five from the table, before turning to Allison.

"You clean up, I'll take him up to his room, and make sure Luther is still breathing up there." Allison nodded her assent, and Klaus turned, wrapping one of Five's scrawny arms around his shoulder, and placing one of his own gently around the other's waist, taking the brunt of the boy's already small weight.

The stairs were slow-going, but Klaus didn't mind too much, happy to help the younger-older teen. Five seemed uncharacteristically shy, but kept his arm firmly around Klaus shoulders. As they cleared the insurmountable stairs, and arrived at Five's door, Klaus began to pull away. At Five's slightly disappointed expression, Klaus smiled.

"You unlock your door, and I'll go check on Luther, but stay here, lord knows your room is a death trap." This earned a dry look, but a small light of unguarded happiness brightened Five's eyes. Klaus walked down the hall, leaving Five leaning against his doorway, fishing out his key from the tattered blazer of the school uniform. Klaus turned back to look at him, a small smile on his face, then ventured down the hall to Luther's room. The closer he got though, the clearer he could make out the sounds of the girl laughing and the distinct sound of kissing. Klaus' smile grew and he spun around on his heel, turning back and marching back up the hall to Five's bedroom.

As requested, the boy still stood, leaning against the doorway, a knowing smirk in place. Klaus smirked back, and helped the other into his room. Suddenly Five blushed furiously, ducking his head.

"Can, uh, can you help me with my clothes?" Five asked, shy yet again. Klaus smiled, and pulled the boy closer.

"Of course." Five helped him remove his blazer, followed by his dress shirt, and finally his under shirt. The boy fidgeted nervously as Klaus smiled again, seating the boy on the edge of his bed.

"You want another under shirt?" Klaus asked, as he began to work on getting Five's shoes and socks off.

"U-um sure." Five said, taken slightly off guard. "Could you also um, he-help me with m-my pants?" Klaus knew what he was going to ask, and looked up with a knowing smile.

"Sure." Klaus finished his footwear, and gently pulled the younger boy back to his feet. Slowly, telegraphing all of his motions well in advance, Klaus unbuckled Five's shorts, and began pulling them down the teen's legs. Klaus was silently thankful that his brother wasn't one to go commando, elsewise making this while thing all the more uncomfortable. After Klaus had successfully shed Five of the majority of his clothes, Klaus retrieved the new shirt and helped Five into it, before pushing him back, and settling him into his bed for the night.

"Klaus, do you hate me?" The question seemed unintentionally asked, judging by the look on Five's face after he spoke. 

"No, of course not." Klaus responded softly, beginning to pet the boy's hair the way Klaus knew always put him to sleep. "I could never hate you Five." Klaus muttered, already seeing Five's eyes drop shut.

"Good, that would make me sad." Five responded sleepily, nuzzling into the older's hand like a cat. Klaus continued petting him until he knew Five had drifted off to sleep.

Klaus stood, and padded quietly out of the room, closing his brother's door with a final look at his sleeping form, chest rising and falling evenly with his breaths. A relieved breath left Klaus that he hadn't been aware he was holding.

Klaus made his way to his own room, absentmindedly going through the motions of his normal routine before falling into his own bed. The images had burned themselves into the backs of this eyelids, both of Five unconscious and bleeding out, and of him sleeping peacefully next to Klaus.  
The nasty little thought threaded into his mind, and Klaus quickly reprimanded himself. He was many things, but pedophile wasn't one of them, and never would be. With this sad, yet necessary thought, Klaus allowed himself to drop into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... Klaus definitely isn't over Five, and I think that that is adorable. Five did get a lil OOC there but I don't really care that much, and if anyone asks, it was pain meds.. Also, this <> is what I'm using for thought dialogue, if that was unclear. It is only used once in this chapter, but still. And Klaus will not, ever, under any circumstances fuck or touch a kid/teen inappropriately. Ever. It is explained, but I wanted to make that abundantly clear.  
> Yell at me in the comments. The prompt requests are still open, if anyone cares.


	3. Out Of Hand part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesus, Five sounded pouty even to him. Five couldn't bring himself to care too much, not when he could still feel Klaus hands on him like raging fever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my dear lord! I am so damn sorry this is so late! I know I dropped the ball, but shit got crazy around here, and writing got pushed to the back burner. I will try to get the other part of this one posted as soon as possible, and there may be a kiss thing between Five and Klaus...... Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn

Five's heart skipped a beat, well, a bunch of times actually. But specifically when Klaus summoned Ben right there in front of them, just to protect them. Klaus seemed just as stunned at the rest of them though, but no one had much time to dwell then. Vanya continued to play, and destroy the world. The plan was set, and in the end, it failed, as per usual for the Umbrella Kids. Five didn't know if the jump would work with so many people, but when everyone began to de-age to 13 again, he knew SOMETHING was working. they began to travel the paths quickly, but Five could still hear when the 'mushroom cloud' blowout finally reached the Icarus Theater.

"Five, where the fuck are we?" Allison, vocal cords now repaired, shouted, turning around and around, taking in their surroundings. Five rolled his eyes at his melodramatic siblings. Klaus and Ben were staring at each other, while Diego and a Vanya-laden Luther looked around frantically.

"Relax, these are just the jump paths. We choose a path, and when we reach the end, we will have traveled to another time. It's not nearly as time consuming for me alone as I assume this will be." Five looked around, counting the crystalline blue winding paths, trying to find where the path for their 13 year old world would be. Five thought gruffly. Diego and Luther immediately began spluttering and trying to ask stunted questions over one another.

"Oh my fucking god! Will you idiots just shut the fuck up?!" Five wheeled around, taking in his siblings appearances. Klaus looked as beautiful and ruffled as he always had at 13, while Luther, still carrying the unconscious Vanya, was back to his pre-simian injection. Diego looked basically like a prepubescent version of his adult self. Five decided, turning briskly, and marching toward the path to 2002, where they belonged for this age. Green mist began to plume in from an unknown opening, as they neared they're doorway. The doorway dropped them out into Five's bedroom, Klaus sprawled beautifully across his bed, and Ben sending up pushed up against the wall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo lil bit of insight on my perspective of how the whole time travel thing works lol. Whaddya think? Leave a comment, they give me life. And again, I am so sorry for the long wait, but such a short chapter. I'm not sure whether or not I think that it's really all that good, but hopefully I get my mojo back


	4. Out Of Hand part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the last chapter, I like this guy better lol

"Alright, up you get! Out of Five's room, time to be 13 again!" Ben said peppily. Klaus immediately buried himself underneath Five's blankets. Ben was already pulling Luther and Diego to their feet.

"Why are we in such a hurry?" Allison asked, confused. Her voice, it seemed, was back in full force, if a little hoarse. Vanya, still asleep, was again lifted into Luther's arms and all of them were herded out of the room by Ben, who quietly shut the door behind them. 

Five shook his head fondly at his considerate, yet eccentric sibling. He turned back to his bed, and saw the curled mass of blankets, a frown tugging at his lips. 

"K-Klaus? Are you -" Five approached the shaking boy, concern evident in his voice. Carefully avoiding touching the other, Five drew back the blanket, taking in Klaus' twitching hands and scared expression, as well as his whited out eyes. "Are you okay? Klaus?" Seconds continued to pass, feeling like hours to Five as he stared at the other boy. 

Suddenly, Klaus shot upright, a scream rattling the walls. Five immediately caught Klaus' hands, bringing them to rest over his heart, beating steady, to give the panicked boy something to focus on. Klaus began to rock back and forth, eyes wide and breath coming in heavy pants. Slowly, Five drew the slightly bigger boy against his chest, pressing against Klaus' back. 

When Klaus' breathing began to level out, he began to squirm restlessly. On instinct, Five's arms tightened around the other, wanting to keep him close. Before long, Klaus pulled away, and Five reluctantly let him, choking down a whine at the loss of physical comfort.  
After a beat of awkward silence, Five took a deep breath. 

"So, um.... What was that?" He asked uncomfortably, out of his element. The boy didn't like not knowing something. As soon as the question crossed his lips, Klaus winced a little, curling in on himself. Five immediately reached out, tangling his fingers in Klaus' hair, the other boy visibly relaxing a little. 

"Ghost writing." It was said so quietly, Five almost missed it. Five stayed silent as Klaus took a deep breath, steeling himself to continue. "When ghosts appear, sometimes they're stronger than the rest, and they project their final minutes of life. On me. It's like it's me, but not quite. Like a memory, but not mine." He sounded stronger now, but Five could still detect the waiver in his voice as he spoke.

For a moment, Five's world was dark. When it cleared, Klaus was on his back beneath him, hands dancing across his back as their lips moved against each other. Five deepened the kiss, tongue flicking out along the seam of Klaus' own, beggin entrance. Klaus opened his mouth to Five's exploration, groaning at the other's soothing weight bearing down on him, grounding his mind in the present.

Five leaned up, pushing away from Klaus' warm body to brush his confining blazer off his shoulders. Klaus' eyes immediately widened as a look of pure terror marred his face. Five peered at him confusedly, taking in the other's blown pupils and his flushed and dishevelled appearance. Suddenly, Klaus was pushing Five off and away from him, rushing in his effort to get away.

"Klaus? What's wrong?" He asked unsurely. Klaus looked back him longingly.

"We, we c-can't do this Five. You're still a kid to me, even if you're 58, and we know I'm 30. We just can't do this right away like everything's fine and there's nothing wrong with it." Klaus' eyes bounced around the room as he spoke, nodding as if to reassure himself before he abruptly turned and bolted out the door.

*************************

Five knew it was hopeless, but he wanted him to have come back. He hadn't left his room aside from dinner to keep up appearances for his father. Even still, his eyes kept drifting back to the beautiful man who'd rejected him since he came back. He knew he loved Klaus more than anything else on the planet.

Lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling in sadness and longing. Five knew that he was being an overdramatic child, and he knew that Klaus' reasons for rejecting him were valid, but....... He wanted him to come back! He wanted to keep kissing Klaus, and touching him. He could still feel the amazing warmth that the other boy had put off. It felt so good though, and he wanted that feeling back. Jesus, Five sounded pouty even to him. Five couldn't bring himself to care too much, not when he could still feel Klaus hands on him like raging fever. He never wanted that feeling to go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments keep me writing this, and if any of you have any ideas you want to see in this story, I'd love to hear them


	5. Walk in my shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Klaus' POV of the last chapter. **WARNING** there are some heavy allusions to violent rape and torture, as well as continued, guardian approved rape. Please be careful, and don't read it, if you don't feel like you can safely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... I skipped over the graphics of the violent tape part, but it is mentioned, and heavily alluded to, so please be careful.

Klaus landed with a huff on the bed, blinking rapidly to adjust his eyes to the different lighting. Between one blink and the next, Klaus found himself in the pitch dark. His skin began to prickle, all the hair on his arms standing on end. He didn’t know where he was, but he knew that he wasn’t safe. A crash behind him made him jump, and he dashed off further into the darkness in hopes that whoever it was wouldn’t see him, although he knew it was wrong.

Objectively, he knew that Klaus was safe, but he also knew that he wasn’t currently in the body or mind of Klaus Hargreeves.

_"Maaaagiiiieeeee”_ a voice whispered, echoing horrifically across the walls and ceiling of the cavernous abyss. The body, Maggie apparently, pushed herself harder, her breath coming out is resonant gasps.

_"MMaaaaaagiieeeeee”_ The voice rasped again, closer now, yet still echoing, as if there was no single location source of sound. As if the walls themself said it, and were repeating it in her face. She ran as fast as her body could take her, until she hit a wall. She spun, pressing her back against the wall, and covering her mouth, in a poor attempt to stifle her ragged breaths. Hands grabbed her arms tightly, and pain surged across the back of her head as they jerked her forward and slammed her back against the wall hard.

*****************************************************************

 

Cold was the first thing Maggie registered. Cold all around her, on her legs, her face, her back and her arms. The cold targeted her wrists and her ankles. Bright fluorescent lights pushed against her eyelids harshly, forcing her eyes open. There was one shop light hung directly over her, bathing her head to toe. She realized that she was stripped naked, and felt the sting of long cuts running up her sides.

What scared Klaus worst was that the pain this girl endured through her brutal rape and torture wasn’t the worst that Klaus himself had felt. He’d felt worse in his life, and he had experienced other people’s deaths that were worse than Maggie’s. Like Jay Galreas. He was killed slowly, over the course of three weeks, luckily Klaus only saw the last hour of his life, but the pain in that hour was excruciating. 

When Klaus burst awake, Maggie’s final scream tore from him, echoing violently off the walls. Klaus barely registered hands grabbing his, pressing them into a solid wall of muscle. He could feel a solid thumping against his hands, trapped between the warmth of someone’s chest, and their warm hands. He began to rock back and forth, trying to shake Maggie’s fear from his very bones. Whoever was holding him drew him closer, turning him slightly so that his back was pressed tightly to the other’s chest. As he began to calm, the heatwave that the other person was putting off was making him WAY too hot, so he tried to pull away. The strong arms wrapped around his body tightened some, before allowing him to move away. Reluctant to leave the safety, but needing an escape from the suffocating heat, he pulled away, and turned to face his security blanket. Five took a deep breath, and looked away awkwardly.

"So, um.... What was that?" Five asked uncomfortably, seeming far too unsure of himself for his normally arrogant personality. Klaus winced a little, curling in on himself. The other boy immediately reached out, tangling his fingers in Klaus' hair. It felt good, and gave him something other than the boiling cavern of self loathing and darkness trying really hard to pour out.

"Ghost writing." Klaus said quietly, almost hoping Five wouldn’t hear, and will leave. Five stayed silent as Klaus took a deep breath, steeling himself to continue. "When ghosts appear, sometimes they're stronger than the rest, and they project their final hours of life. On me. It's like it's me, but not quite. Like a memory, but not mine." Klaus wasn’t totally sure how to make him understand, but he explained on, hoping the smarter boy would get it.

Suddenly, Five surged forward, kissing him softly. Klaus wasn’t sure what was happening at first, and when the confusion faded, he quickly kissed the other back roughly. As they continued kissing roughly, Five began to move them, pushing Klaus was on his back beneath him, hands dancing across his back as their lips moved against each other. Five deepened the kiss, tongue flicking out along the seam of Klaus' own, beggin entrance. Klaus opened his mouth to Five's exploration, groaning at the other's soothing weight bearing down on him, grounding his mind in the present.

Five leaned up, pushing away from Klaus' warm body to brush his confining blazer off his shoulders. Klaus' eyes immediately widened as a look of pure terror marred his face. Something about the boy he’d always kept 13 in his mind looking absolutely debauched, his lips bright red and spit slicked from their rough kissing made Klaus stomach turn, and for a moment his mind flashed back to green felt pressed against his cheek, the side pocket seeming miles away. Suddenly, Klaus was pushing Five off and away from him, rushing in his effort to get away.

"Klaus? What's wrong?" He asked unsurely. Klaus looked back him longingly, he knew that he loved him, and wanted him way more than was acceptable for even adoptive brothers.

"We, we c-can't do this Five. You're still a kid to me, even if you're 58, and we know I'm 30. We just can't do this right away like everything's fine and there's nothing wrong with it." Klaus' eyes bounced around the room as he spoke, nodding as if to reassure himself before he abruptly turned and bolted out the door.

*****************************************************************

Seeing Five at dinner, and trying to pretend like there was nothing wrong, more than usual anyway, was difficult. The other boy kept looking at him with a mix of confusion, sadness and longing, as if he wanted to curl up with him in bed, like they used to when they were kids for real. The only thing keeping him from this, and so much more, was remembering what it felt like to be Maggie. To be him, in that room, underground. He remembered what it was like to drown his pain and try not to look at the pool tables that littered every bar in America, for fear of remembering the feeling of being chained to one of them, the lights bright overhead, and dimming everything else into almost complete darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..... Yeah... If you guys wanna know anything more about Maggie's story, lemme know in the comments, and I'll post it as a separate story, because it doesn't really apply to the main story here..


End file.
